TOPICS OF '[HE DAY.

THE CLOSE OF THE SESSION.

THE curtain falls on the first session of the Reformed Parliament : is the nation—are theseleetors of the House of Commons—satisfied with the pellet mance? We believe not: disappointment.—at one time we might have used a harsher word than disaypointment- has prevailed through the greater part of the session, to the very close: and this feeling is not confined to rash and unscrupulous innovators and inexperienced dreamers in politics, but extends to

age bodies of cautious and thoughtful men, whose expectations

are moderate, and their views core titutiolial and patriotic. They say that, hitherto, they have seen little or no difference between a Reormed Parliament and an Unreformed Parliament : this, in one word, is the cause of quarrel—and the c,mplaint is geueial. During the recess, our Representatives will have ample opportu- nity for ascertaining the ti mil or emir of these assertions. In the mean while, instead of profitless lamentations over the past, it may

be of use to consider some of the causes of the striking alteration in the public feeling, as respects the Hohse of Commons and the Ministry; and in what way the faults of the past session may be avoided and amended in the next. For we are not among those who eensider the Reform Act an experiment that has failed : oli the contrary,-we hold that it has not been. us set, fairly 'lied. The present Parliament. contains many good Members; and what is of more importance—thanks to the Return Ac!—theelectens have the power of. punishing bad Members, and choosing better ones in future.

The gland error of a large majoi ity of the Members of the pre- sent Parliament, has been their neglect of proper preparation. They were eyidently under the impression, that with the Reform Ministry at the head of affairs, nothing could go wrong. They had the most perfect reliant.', not merely on the honest intentions, but upon the business habits and statesmanlike acquirements of the King's servants. They went to Parliament prepared to sup- port Earl GREY, and prepared fin- nothing else; aware, perhaps, that they might have to contend with a perverse Tory Opposition in the House of Peers, and a baneful secret influence behind the Throne, hut never dreaming that Ministers them-elves would re- quire watching for the good of their constituents, or that they would need any thing in filet but sturdy and unflinching support. Now the consequences of this error would net hate been so disastrous to the reputation of our Representatives, had Ministers themselves been equal to the pet formance of the duties tequired from them. So fur from this Leing the case, hoWever, their ignorance, inaptitude, and negligence, have been astounding. The history of their measures proses that this assertion is not too harsh or sweeping. The most thoroughgoing of their partisans cannot deny the recorded facts of the Parliamentary journals. Every measure of importance (except, perhaps, the East India Bill)—the Coercion, Irish Chinch, Bank Chatter, and Slavery Bills, and their measuies of Finance, required perpetual amend- ments and remodelling; and ninny of their must essential ft:antics here little re:emblra.e, when they filially received his Majesty's sanction, to those t. Lich they possessed when first introduced by the Minister. In all their changes, they still received the steady support or large, though frequently dissatisfied majorities.* Now, by did these dissatisfied gaitlemen tote for these measures ? Penicipally, we believe, from the convichon which weighed upon them, that they had no choice. Many clearhead d men saw at a glance that the Government had blundered,—that their measures were inefficient, and all but impracticable: but, owing to the previous relianca upon the wisih m of our rule's, they had neg- lected to prepare better plans of their own as substitutes. The swims subjects, too, having been once broached, there were strong arguments for their" se:dement.- as it was fel me d —1 houg h in many instances erroneously so-ewith as little delay as possible. Any thing, it was said, is better than suspen-e—matters cannot goon as they are: and thus, measuies disgiacefull■ bungled wele harried through the House amidst the anger and sneers of the sees men who voted for them.

That Ministers are just!) liable to the gravest censure for the incomplete state, and the ill-considered manner in which nearly every measure of the session was brought thrwind, there can be ma doubt. The blind confidence which was so 'Dimity awarded to them wa, misplaced, and indiscreet under any circumstances. We suspect that next session the tables will be turf. -d. Ili,nousaWe Members during the hal■das b will find that they whose names have appealed most t equently in min ri its meet with the best reception

Leal their ,constituents. he not improbable consequence of this will be, that the House of Commons will not be over-kind to Ministers next sessioin—that it will be captious lather than good- humoured, and more suspicious than confiding.

Public patience has been severely hied during the last few months. Not merely have a large class of the measures pa sed itas Parliament been objectionable, but others—such as the repeal We state this fact from our own perscual exper:ence. We shall mention AM iu- stnnce. to show how such knowledge may easily he obtained. In one of the barren isms or a long de: ate which had become quite nellriSOine. We exchanged a seat under the Battery fur a seat in Bellamy's: and soon god surrounded tot a knot are hestanehest XLiaisterial %titers ia the whole onse. we began to cowl n e opinions on the men sums of the session and the merits of Ministers in regaut them, and toned. to our very considerable as onishruent, Out we were near4 all of the same mind. One Win- k-17 was frank ct uugh. however. to confess. that. much as he had disapploven of sonic things. he had voted with Ministers iu every division-and would maniple to vote with Mom in the prorogation: he had set out with a resoattiot to give them the entire first session, for the development of their plans: next bili:S011, it would be altogether dif- Irseut—he would then vote independently, without Immur as sithout enmity to the llaufnistrath.n,accordiug to the merits or each particular case,

of the Septennial Act, the declaration against Sinecure", the abolition of military flogging, and almost every question relative

to the freedom of the Press—have been discussed in. a style and

tone which ill became the Reformed House. We heard the old Tory arguments uttered by the Whig Ministers and their adherents,

with scarcely any change, or changed for the worse. This it was which contributed as much to the spread of general disgust in the nation as any of the acts of the House. If this manner of speaking be not corrected in the ensuing session, its consequences will be alarming and disastrous.

Much evil has been done, much discontent has been generated. Prudent Statesmen and honest Representatives will mark care- fully the signs of the times, and endeavour to avoid past errors. The first thing to be done is undoubtedly to shake off the species of vassalage to Ministers under which Members now labour; and to prepare themselves, by diligent application, to discuss the mo- mentous questions which will certainly come before them at no distant time. They will thus acquire that confidence in them- selves without which the best intentions are of little use. They will thus acquire that title to reject or remodel Ministerial mea- sures, which they have hitherto wanted, owing to their own neg- lect and ignorance.

The Independent party have hitherto failed to satisfy just ex- pectation, almost as much as the mere Ministerialists. They must totally change their present tactics, and learn to act in con- ceit. One might imagine that BURKE had the Radicals of the present day in his mind's eye, when he wrote the following pas- sage, so applicable is it to the state of their party.

s, When men lie dispersed without concert, order, or discipline, communies. thin is uncertain, counsel difficult, and resistance impracticable. Where men are not acquainted with each other's principles, nor experienced in each other's talents, nor at all practised in their mutual habitudes and dispositions by joint efforts in business ; no personal confidence, no friendship, no common interest subsisting among them ; it is evidently impossible that they can act a public part with uniformity or efficacy. In a connexion, the most inconsiderable man, by adding to the weight of the whole, has his value and his use ; out of it, the greatest talents are wholly unserviceable to the public. No man, who is not in- flamed by vain glory into enthusiasm, can flatter himself that his single, unsup- ported, desultory, unsystematic endeavours, are of power to defeat the subtle de- signs and united cabal's of ambitious citizens."

These remarks were written in reference to the disorganized state of that aristocratical party of which BURKE was the most talented member; but the admonition they convey, well deserves the attention of men whose aims and_motives are, it is to be hoped, of a higher and more patriotic cast, than were ever entertained. by the great majority of those with whom BURKE Was connected in pub' ic life.

If the Independent party, then, mean to effect substantial good to the country,. the different Members must, for a time at least, throw aside their own peculiar, and, under present circumstances, impracticable plans, and unite in some feasible attempt to benefit their constituents. As it is, one aims at an alteration of the Cure rclicy, another at the abolition of the Corn-laws, another at exten- sive Emigration, and so forth; each insisting upon the preeminent impnt tame of his own project, but refusing to exerthimself heartily for that of a brother Member. This is not theway in Ix Lich a Mi- eistry is to be kept in check, or a Nation to be benefited by its Re- presentatives. In proof of this, we ask, what has the Independent party effected for the country during the last six months? The Ministers must perceive that they have lately been acting upon false principles. Surely they will take advantage of the ap- proaching days of leisure to prepare to pass through the next ses- sion with credit. The Nation is sick of the old humdrum forma- lities of the King's Speech. Let his Majesty be made to speak with heartiness and openness to his Parliament; let his servants describe fully and precisely the state of their several departments, and the measures connected with them, which it. is proposed to lay before the Representatives of the Nation. But in order to do this, Ministers must not be idle during the Autumn. They will do wisely not again to rely upon the unfortunate state of parties in the country, which has hitherto maintained them in their places. Important as the lest session of Parliament has been, it is easy to discern that the next will be far more so. Whether it will close amidst the gratitude, or scorn and disgust of the public, depends mainly upon the manner in which Members and Minis- ters employ the recess.